Means for inserting a weft into a warp in a circular loom



May 2, 1950 H. J. COOPER 2,506,442 ERTING A WEF I MEANS FOR I S T INTO A WARP IN A CIRCULAR LQOll Filed April 1, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor. Hnry James Cooper er Emma. 51 .2% Ema/KM fit ornay.

May 2, 1950 H. J. COOPER 2,506,442

MEANS FOR INSERTING A WEFT mm A map IN A cmcuum L00! 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 1, 1946 Invenlor. I Q HenryJames Cooper v *Ztorney.

May 2, 1950 H. J. COOPER MEANS FOR msan'rmc A WEFT nrro A WARP IN A CIRCULAR mom 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 1, 1946 Irwwnlo'r. HenryJamesCoopor Attorney.

May 2, 1950 H. J. COOPER 2,506,442

A MEANS FOR INSERTING A WEFT. mm A WARP IN A qIRcuLAR LOOM Filed April 1, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 O In Inuawtor.

Henry James COopar May 2, 1950 H. J. cooPER 7 2,506,442

MEANS FOR/INSERTING A WEFT INTO A WARP IN A CIRCULAR LOOM Filed April 1, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Tar Patented 'May 2, 1950 MEANS FOR INSERTING A WEFT INTO A WARP IN A CIRCULAR LOOM Henry James Cooper, High Lane, near Stockport, England Application April 1, 1946, Serial No. 658,782 In Great Britain May 16, 1945 4 Claims. (Cl. 139-43) This invention relates to means for inserting a weft into a warp in a circular loom.

According to this invention a circular loom has rotary members which revolve in a circular path and are rotated about their axes and serve to drive waft inserting members through the shed of the warp which weft inserting members are wholly supported by rollers so related and arranged that the warp threads can pass between the weft inserting members and the supporting rollers without having their position or tension materially disturbed.

In one form of the invention the weft inserting members include conical rollers which ride on the supporting rollers.

Preferably rollers on the weft inserting members and cooperating supporting rollers or some of them have peripheral grooves or ribs respectively which cooperate to resist relative displacement in an axial direction.

Means may be provided to reduce the possibility of accidental separation of the weft inserting members from the supporting rollers. These means may comprise magnets travelling with the supporting rollers in a circular path and exerting a downward pull on the weft inserting members.

Preferably the bottom warp threads and the axes of rotation of the supporting rollers are so arranged that if extended they would all meet at a common point on a central line about which the supporting rollers travel, and the peripheries of the supporting rollers and the rollers on the weft inserting members are parts of cones whose apexes also would meet at the said common point.

Each weft inserting member may have two rollers spaced apart in axial alignment and riding on three or four supporting rollers, two of which are arranged spaced apart on a common shaft rotated by gearing, the remaining supporting roller or rollers being rotatable about a different axis or axes from that of rotation of the shaft.

Each weft inserting member may comprise a carriage which has a dropped portion forming or provided with a magnet armature and is formed or provided with an upwardly projecting portion carrying a rotatable bobbin.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side view in section of a means for inserting weft threads in a warp.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a side elevation drawn to a larger scale and illustrating a detail.

Figure 4 is a plan view of Figure 3.

taken on a line corresponding with line 5-5 of Figure 1 and drawn to a larger scale than Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, in the construction shown more or less diagrammatically therein, I provide a stationary part I on which a conveyor 2 is rotatably mounted. The conveyor 2 is rotatable by means of a toothed spur wheel 3 on the conveyor in mesh with a toothed spur wheel 4 provided on a carrier shaft 5 mounted in a stationary bearing 6.

The rotary conveyor is provided with bearings I in which are mounted a plurality of horizontal shafts 8 spaced at predetermined distances apart and arranged radially of the post I. The inner end of each horizontal shaft 8 has a toothed bevel wheel 9 in mesh with a common toothed bevel wheel l0 secured to the post so that when the shafts 8 revolve about the axis of the post I in the direction of the arrow l4, Figure 2, each horizontal shaft 8 is caused to rotate about its ownaxis but in a direction which causes the upper side of the shaft 8 to travel in reverse direction to that of the conveyor.

Each horizontal shaft 8 has two or more rollers, for example two rollers II and I2 respectively mounted on it at suitable spaced distances along the shaft, the periphery of each roller coinciding with a different part of a geometrical cone the axis of which coincides with the axis of the horizontal shaft 8 and the apex l3 of which is in the central line 36 coinciding with the axis of the post I which in turn coincides with the vertical axis of rotation of the conveyor 2. Rotation of the conveyor causes the rollers to travel circularly about the central line 36. The rollers II and [2 are of different diameters and their diameters are so chosen in relation to the distance of the diameter from the vertical axis of the post lthat each point on the periphery of each roller II or l2, when it reaches its highest position is moving at the same linear speed about the axis of the roller as that at which the said axis moves through its orbit. In Figure 5 the direction of rotation of the conveyor 2 is indicated by an arrow I5, and the direction of rotation of the rollers II and I2 is indicated Figure 5 is a detached end view in section by an arrow l6. Because each point on the rollers II and I2 travels in reverse direction to the roller axis during the upper half of its orbit round the roller axis, this equality in speed results in each point when in its highest position, being momentarily stationary in respect to the warp threads and approximating to a stationary 3 state as it approaches and recedes from the said highest position.

l8 are warp threads which converge above the rollers II and I2 radially when regarded in plan view and then travel upwards in a direction parallel to the axis of the post I, the bottom line of warp threads l8 being touched successively by the upper part of the peripheries of the rollers II and I2 when the conveyor 2 is rotated. The warp threads of the bottom line if they were extended to the line 36 would meet at the common apex l3 on the line 36. 1;

Because all points on the upper part of the rollers I I and i2 in contact with the bottom line of warp threads l8 are momentarily stationary in respect to the warp threads or nearly stationary, the rollers H and I2 do not shift or bend the warp threads l8 laterally, i. e. in ahorizontal direction or twist them to any material extent, but pass them with a substantially rolling motion.

The top line of warp threads i8 is located sufflciently high above the rollers II and 2 to accommodate between them and the bottom line, weft-thread carriers is each having two or more conical rollers, for example two conical rollers 20 and 2| respectively, which are supported by one of the pair of rollers H and I2 provided on each horizontal shaft 8 and are rotated by the said pair of rollers II and" at the said surface speeds as the said rollers by frictional contact therewith. The rollers 20 and 2| coincide with parts of geometrical cones whose apexes coincide with the common apex i3 of the hereinbefore mentioned geometrical cones. When the rollers 20 and 2| roll over the warp threads I 8 of the bottom line the said threads are su ported by the rollers H and I2. Because all points on the peripheries of the rollers 20 and 2| in contact with the supporting rollers H and i2 are rotated by the rollers I and I2 at the said surface speed and in the same direction as the part of the rollers H and I2 with which they are in contact and all those points on the peripheries of the rollers 20 and 2| which are in the immediate vicinity have approximately the same motion as permanent, U-shaped magnet 23 provided on the conveyor 2 beneath the bottom line of warp threads l8 and acting on a dropped part 23 of the carriage l9 adapted to serve as an armature. there being an air gap between the magnet 28 and the part 28 of the carriage to accommodate the warp threads it of the bottom line. Annular peripheral grooves 21 are provided in the rollers II for engagemeni by annular peripheral ribs 28 on the rollers 20 to prevent axial displacement of the rollers 20 on the rollers H.

There are as many carriages l9 as there are horizontal shafts 8 and each carriage l9 carries a supply of weft thread 3| by any suitable means such as a bobbin 28 rotatably mounted on a bracket provided on the carriage is, so that the weft thread 3| can be laid in the shed of the warp threads l8 by playing itself out as the carriage l9 travels in the shed transversely of the warp threads I8.

In operation, assuming the bobbins 28 on the carriage It to be charge l with weft thread 3| and the carriages Is to be in position on the the said points, all the said points are approximately stationary and therefore ride over the said warp threads i8 without displac ng them in a horizontal direction or twisting them to any material extent. The carriage I9 is positively constrained to travel with the rollers II and I2 in a concentric circular path round the post by means of two driving rollers 22 and 23 re-- spectively mounted on spindles 24 on the conveyor 2 so as to project somewhat beyond the peripheries of the supporting rollers H and I2 and thereby form with their peripheries abutments acting on the peripheries of the rollers 20 and 2 I. The peripheries of the driving rollers 22 and 23 also coincide with geometrical cones having their apexes coincident with the common apex |3 of the hereinbefore mentioned cones, and are driven frictionally by the rollers 28 and 2| and therefore the driving rollers II and I2 and the rollers 28 and 2| have no material shifting or horizontal bending or twisting effect on the warp threads l8 momentarily between them. In the shown construction the driving rollers 22 and 23 are also supporting rollers.

The weight of the carriage l9 acts to cause it to ride on the supporting rollers H and I2 and the warp threads l8 and also to prevent the rollers 20 and 2| from jumping over the driving rollers 22 and 23. This action is reinforced by a rollers II and I2 01 the conveyor 2, and the conveyor wheel 3 to be driven, the horizontal shafts 8 revolve concentrically round the axis of the post and at the same time, each horizontal shaft 8 rotates about its own axis due to the provision of the bevel wheels 9 and I0. As the conveyor 2 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow H in Figure 2 and by the arrow IS in Figure 5, the horizontal shafts 8 and their rollers H and I2 rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow iii in Figure 5. Because the carriages l9 are wholly supported by the rollers ll. I2, 22 and 23, they revolve with the horizontal shafts 8 about the axis of the post I whilst their rollers 20 and 2| are rotated by the rollers II and I2 in reverse direction to the latter rollers, namely in the direction indicated by the arrow 32, and the rollers 20 and 2| rotate the driving rollers 22 and 23 in the same direction as the rollers H and I2, namely in the direction indicated by the arrow 33, the surface speeds of each roller II and 2, the rollers 2|! and 2| and the driving rollers 22 and 23 in contact with the rollers 20 and 2| being equal.

Each radial warp thread I8 has a longitudinal movement caused by being taken up and a vertical movement caused by being shedded and is supported whilst in the bottom line of the shed by each of the rollers II and I2 and driving rollers 22 and 23 as it passes beneath the thread It! and is rolled over by each of the carriage rollers 20 and. 2|, without however being materially bent or twisted, because the surface speed of rotation of the rollers is equal to and in the vicinity of the shedded warp threads opposite in direction to the speed of revolution of the rollers H and I2 about the axis of the post Each carriage l9 therefore travels through the shed without material bending or twisting of the warp threads l8 and each carriage l9 deposits successively a weft thread 3| in each part thereof, thus converting the warp and weft threads into a woven fabric, there being a plurality of weft threads being deposited simultaneously in the warp.

Presser wires or discs 34 may be provided on the carriages l9 to be driven thereby through the shed and so act on the deposited weft threads after they have been trapped by shed changes as to force each weft thread 3| inserted by preceding carriages is towards the previously inserted weft threads. It should be understood however, that in interpreting the claims hereinafter set out any reaction produced by such presser wires or discs on the weft inserting members (which reaction may tend to support the same to a slight extent) is to be disregarded. A

. weft thread guide 35 of U cross section and provided on each carriage l9 guides each weft thread 3| to the line of the shed. Drag means such as tensioning wires or fur may be provided in the guide 35.

The hereinbefore described mechanism enables weft to be inserted in a warp at a quick rate without the use of any parts-which reciprocate or reverse and without damage to and undue strain on and disturbance of the warp threads and weft threads, and by the use of parts moving at relatively slow speeds. The employment of circularly travelling rollers acting as the whole support of the weft inserting members renders the provision of stationary surfaces to wholly or partly support the weft inserting members unnecessary.

The" conicity of the rollers on the horizontal shafts 8 act against the centrifugal effect produced on the carriages I9. If the action of the said conicity is insufllcient to restrain the carriages from leaving the rollers at the speed it is desired to rotate the conveyor, the shafts 8, instead of being horizontal, may be suitably inclined to the horizontal so as to increase the restraining action of the said rollers. Instead of two separate driving rollers other arrangements may be used; for example there may be a single elongated driving roller for each carriage. As a further alternative instead of two rollers on each carriage, there may, for example, be three or four.

Some or all of the rollers may have a soft or yielding peripheral surface to reduce noise and slip and also liability of crushing of the warp threads between the rollers. The said surface may also assist the warp threads to be passed between the rollers by the rolling action of the rollers. The said surface may be provided by making the rollers of suitably soft material, such as a plastic, or by incorporating therewith a coating of suitably soft material, or a clothing of suitably soft material, such as soft rubber in the form of a renewable sleeve.

I claim:

1. A circular loom having rollers which revolve about a centre line and rotate about their own axes, weft inserting members lying loosely on and supported from below by the said rollers against downward displacement and axial tiltingmovement, and rollers forming part of and carrying the weft inserting members supported bythe first named rollers, the axes of all the rollers being all directed to a common point on the centre line and the peripheries of all the rollers being parts of cones whose apexes also meet at the said common point, and the conicity of the first named rollers resisting the centrifugal effect which acts on the weft inserting members.

2. A circular loom comprising in combination, weft carrying members, two spaced and axially aligned conical rollers on which each weft carrying member is mounted, a plurality of concial supporting rollers situated beneath the first named rollers and supporting-them and therefore the weft carrying members against vertical downward displacement and axially tilting over, a rotary and revoluble shaft carrying some of the supporting rollers, and means revolving with the shaft and carrying the remaining supporting rollers with their axes mounted offset from the said shaft.

3. A circular loom having conical rollers which revolve about a centre and rotate about their own axes and whose tops incline downwards in an inward direction, a plurality of carriages for the weft, conical rollers provided on the carriages and seated on the upper part of the first named rollers which support the whole of the weight of the carriages and second the named conical rollers and simultaneously revolve them about the said centre and resist centrifugal effect acting on the said carriages, dropped portions on the carriages, megnetioally attractable means on the dropped portions, an upwardly projecting portion on the dropped portion of the carriage, a rotatable weft thread suporting means carried by the upwardly projecting portions and magnets disposed beneath the said dropped portions for augmenting the gravitational force acting on the said carriages and second named rollers.

4. A circular loo'm having in combination a plurality of weft carriages, a dropped portion on each weft carriage, a conical running roller provided on each weft carriage beyond one end of the dropped portion, a second conical running roller provided on each weft carriage beyond the other end of the dropped portion in axial alignment with the first named roller, a rotary conveyor, radial, rotary shafts on the conveyor, two conical carrying rollers fixed at a distance apart on each shaft for each supporting a different one of the two running rollers of each weft carriage from below and thereby supporting the weft carriage against falling out of its orbit and tilting axially out of position, co-operating annular grooves and ribs on some of the rollers for preventing the weft carriages from sliding axially on the conveying rollers by gravity or centrifugal effect, two conical abutment rollers mounted on the conveyor and associated with each two conveying rollers and acting on the running rollers for combating the inertia of the weft carriages which acts to cause the weft carriages to remain stationary whilst the conveyor is rotating, a magnetically attractable part on the said dropped portion, and magnets provided on the rotary conveyor beneath each dropped portion for attracting the weft carriages downwardly and thereby forcing the running rollers downwardly towards the upper parts of the conveying rollers and abutment rollers.

HENRY JAMES COOPER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 375,135 De Laski Dec. 20, 1887 503,544 De Laski Aug. 15, 1893 514,089. Lombard Feb. 6, 1894 608,676 Herold Aug. 9, 1898 629,251 Herold July 18, 1899 924,142 Burrows June 8, 1909 1,357,969 DuPray Nov. 9, 1920 1,775,325 Saylor Sept. 9, 1930 2,419,437 Bricout Apr. 22, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,120 Great Britain of 1884 8,684 Great Britain of 1885 

